Well let the build begin...

...Such was the commencement of my build. After getting the tools out and work stand setup, I proceeded to the first (and probably easiest job) putting the rotors for the brakes on. Remember now, 160mm rotor for the front and 140mm for the back (just like a car or motor bike, the front bears the brunt of braking so you need something stronger on the front). So after screwing in 12 most fuckingly annoying star screws, guess which air-head put them on the wrong wheels... So, unscrew 12 star screws and screw in correctly. That's 36 screwing actions, when only 12 was needed. Douche bag.

Only a few minutes after that, I realised a mistake I made with the stem and handlebar. Stem hole = 31.8mm, handlebar, 25.4mm. Douche bag, again.

Here was my problem:

And here was my solution:

Shims. Upon further inquiry with some of my less mentally challenged friends, I found out that the larger stem is actually not so bad as the 31.8mm is becoming more standard than the 25.4mm. Had I not got the shims, my options were replace the handlebars (didn't want to as I like the ones I got) or new stem (not an option as the smaller diameter stem wasn't available).

..by the way, ever wondered why they are called handlebars? It's just one bar, so it should be the "handlebar". Yep, care factor zero right?

Anyway, there were a couple of other bits I needed to add as well, rim tape for the inside of the rims, and I forgot the stem spacers (but of course, I had to get these in gold too). Stem spacers form part of the stem/headset and I will basically use these to get the right angle up front... you will get it when I blog that bit later.

(Note that the shims won't actually be that visible unlike the gold spacers so don't worry, I haven't destroyed the awesome bling-ness of this build).

So anyway, here are a few pictures so you can see where I am up to thus far.

Firstly, bike frame on the work-stand (excuse the mess, in particularly my most fantastically crappy commuter behind it):

I started with the wheels, (and the dreaded rotors applied with the 12 star screws put on this planet just to piss me off). Here is the rear wheel with the rotor in place and cassette attached to the rear hub. The rear cassette has a nice little locking screw to hold it all in place. I had to really jiggle the cassette into place - first couple of tries there was some give that would have been noticeable while riding.

 

 

 So I did a little more in this build session, but this is about all I can be bothered blogging right now, so TS.

 

Progressive costs:

Actual: $3332.66
Estimated: $3407.39
If RRP: $5617.25

Until next time,

Justin.